Uniform Justice
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Book Description
The 12th Commissario Brunetti novel, darker and more moving than ever before. Donna Leon at her most human best.
Product Description
Neither Commissario Brunetti nor his wife Paola have ever had much sympathy for the Italian armed forces, so when a young cadet is found hanged, at Venice's elite military academy, Brunetti's emotions are complex: pity and sorrow at the death of a boy close in age to his own son, and contempt and irritation for the arrogance and high-handedness of the boy's teachers and fellow students.
The young man is the son of an ex-politician, a man of an impeccable integrity all too rare in Italian politics. But as Brunetti - and the indispensable Signorina Elettra - investigate further, no one seems willing to talk, as the military protects its own and civilians keep their own counsel. Is this the natural reluctance of Italians to involve themselves with the authorities, or is Brunetti facing a conspiracy of silence?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Brunetti saw a man not far from himself in age and appearance, cradling in his arms the body of his only son, a boy about the same age as Brunetti's own." Suicide or murder?
Set in a private military school, the twelfth instalment in the Commissario Brunetti series is one of the best, in my opinion. There is a similarity to a previous instalment - The Death of Faith, 1997 - in that we are not really sure that a crime has actually been committed until we are more than halfway through the book.
Published in 2003, we finally start dealing in euros rather than lira, but the restoration of the church of San Lorenzo opposite the police station - work on which was taking place as far back as the very first episode (Death at La Fenice, 1992) - continues at its slow pace.
As usual, much of the plot relies on Signorina Elletra's abilities with the computer, and one does wonder if the speed and ease with which she gathers and interprets information for Brunetti pushes the bounds of credulity too far. Also as usual, there is a bitter taste in the reader's mouth at the end, as the workings of the Italian legal system clash with those of natural justice.
Set in a private military school, the twelfth instalment in the Commissario Brunetti series is one of the best, in my opinion. There is a similarity to a previous instalment - The Death of Faith, 1997 - in that we are not really sure that a crime has actually been committed until we are more than halfway through the book.
Published in 2003, we finally start dealing in euros rather than lira, but the restoration of the church of San Lorenzo opposite the police station - work on which was taking place as far back as the very first episode (Death at La Fenice, 1992) - continues at its slow pace.
As usual, much of the plot relies on Signorina Elletra's abilities with the computer, and one does wonder if the speed and ease with which she gathers and interprets information for Brunetti pushes the bounds of credulity too far. Also as usual, there is a bitter taste in the reader's mouth at the end, as the workings of the Italian legal system clash with those of natural justice.
Format:Paperback
Donna Leon, originally from New Jersey, U.S., has lived in Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China, where she worked as a teacher. Before moving to Venice, Italy, for twenty years, as lecturer, professor, and finally mystery writer/student of Baroque music(and she actually motivated me to buy a CD of excerpts from Handel's operas from Amazon U.S., Patrizia Ciofi & Joyce DiDonato ~ Amor e gelosia (Handel Operatic Duets) ). As of 2006, she's written 16 Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries, of which this was the twelfth, all set in or around Venice. Her recent Commissario Brunetti mystery Friends In High Places won the CWA Macallan Silver Dagger for fiction. She has also been awarded the German Corinne prize for her novels.
First thing to be said is, she knows the place: its geography, weather, people, houses, jobs, transportation, politics, smells,feel, food, and death, and no, not in that Death In Venice (by Thomas Mann) way. I imagine she knows the best places to go for pizza, the road to avoid for construction, and the most impossibly noisy, motorcycle clogged neighborhoods. Her Venice has little in common with the beautiful, ethereal city celebrated so frequently in song, story, and movie, and so fondly remembered by multitudes of tourists. Her Venice is where Venetians live and work.
Commissario Brunetti is a melancholy and cynical man, made tired by endless infighting in the top-heavy Italian police bureaucracy; and by many disappointments in dealing with what he sees as the self-serving corruption of the Italian power elites. Only the domestic warmth of his family: wife Paola, a hereditary contessa born to one of Venice's oldest families, who chooses to teach, cook, and to espouse left-wing causes (that often sound as if her creator might also support them); his children Raffi and Chiara, and many good meals, enable Brunetti to stay centered and to continue fighting the good fight.
Many people feel that Leon relies too heavily on stereotypes. Her view of Italy as a whole reflects the country that certain liberal bohemias love to hate. She sometimes slows the action of her books to express her political views. UNIFORM JUSTICE particularly, can be viewed as being a bit too full of political digressions. Leon may also be accused of choosing the subject matter of her books for political reasons; of painting all southern Italians as dumb and dishonest, all Venetians as intelligent and honest, all American tourists as fat and crude, and all women under 35 as beautiful. There's some truth to all these criticisms.
In UNIFORM JUSTICE Brunetti is sent to the upper-crust "San Martino Military Academy," where Cadet Ernesto Moro has been found hanged in the boys' lavatory. The school, man and boy, prefers to think Moro a suicide, and whispers various nasty habits of his. They close ranks against Brunetti, as they do against all outsiders, particularly the low-born. However, Brunetti doesn't think the cadet's death is suicide, and digs doggedly until he can prove the cadet's death is murder. Furthermore, the death is directly attributable to the self-interest and corruption of the Italian elites, and to the weakness of any countervailing powers, such as the boy's own family, that might have saved him. But does Brunetti imagine he has liberated Italy from this kind of business? No, sorry, no can do.
It's a really sad story, and I particularly liked the fact that Leon doesn't ever forget that murder, violent death, is tragic, and in the case of a young person, doubly so. If you don't mind a gritty Venice, one where the gondoliers don't sing night and day, this book, and this series, may be for you.
First thing to be said is, she knows the place: its geography, weather, people, houses, jobs, transportation, politics, smells,feel, food, and death, and no, not in that Death In Venice (by Thomas Mann) way. I imagine she knows the best places to go for pizza, the road to avoid for construction, and the most impossibly noisy, motorcycle clogged neighborhoods. Her Venice has little in common with the beautiful, ethereal city celebrated so frequently in song, story, and movie, and so fondly remembered by multitudes of tourists. Her Venice is where Venetians live and work.
Commissario Brunetti is a melancholy and cynical man, made tired by endless infighting in the top-heavy Italian police bureaucracy; and by many disappointments in dealing with what he sees as the self-serving corruption of the Italian power elites. Only the domestic warmth of his family: wife Paola, a hereditary contessa born to one of Venice's oldest families, who chooses to teach, cook, and to espouse left-wing causes (that often sound as if her creator might also support them); his children Raffi and Chiara, and many good meals, enable Brunetti to stay centered and to continue fighting the good fight.
Many people feel that Leon relies too heavily on stereotypes. Her view of Italy as a whole reflects the country that certain liberal bohemias love to hate. She sometimes slows the action of her books to express her political views. UNIFORM JUSTICE particularly, can be viewed as being a bit too full of political digressions. Leon may also be accused of choosing the subject matter of her books for political reasons; of painting all southern Italians as dumb and dishonest, all Venetians as intelligent and honest, all American tourists as fat and crude, and all women under 35 as beautiful. There's some truth to all these criticisms.
In UNIFORM JUSTICE Brunetti is sent to the upper-crust "San Martino Military Academy," where Cadet Ernesto Moro has been found hanged in the boys' lavatory. The school, man and boy, prefers to think Moro a suicide, and whispers various nasty habits of his. They close ranks against Brunetti, as they do against all outsiders, particularly the low-born. However, Brunetti doesn't think the cadet's death is suicide, and digs doggedly until he can prove the cadet's death is murder. Furthermore, the death is directly attributable to the self-interest and corruption of the Italian elites, and to the weakness of any countervailing powers, such as the boy's own family, that might have saved him. But does Brunetti imagine he has liberated Italy from this kind of business? No, sorry, no can do.
It's a really sad story, and I particularly liked the fact that Leon doesn't ever forget that murder, violent death, is tragic, and in the case of a young person, doubly so. If you don't mind a gritty Venice, one where the gondoliers don't sing night and day, this book, and this series, may be for you.
Format:Paperback
At the exclusive San Martino Military Academy cadet Ernesto Moro is found hanging. Suicide? Commissario Guido Brunetti suspects otherwise....
Not for the first time he comes up against an enclosed community that looks after its own - the wall of silence on this occasion stemming from wealth, arrogance and power.
Those hoping for non-stop excitements and a nail-biting finale will not find them here. Patience is Brunetti's watchword, red tape and bureaucracy the bane of his life. Only by calling in favours, discreetly sounding out friends and modestly bending the rules does he gradually put together the overall picture. Colleagues Vianello and Pucetti prove invaluable (the youthful latter developing in ways that surprise). Secretary Elettra continues to stun with her computer expertise.
As ever when young victims are involved, Brunetti thinks even more deeply about his own children, the time spent together increasingly precious.
A haunting, downbeat novel - at its core a man, humane and conscientious, disenchanted with what Venice has become.
Not for the first time he comes up against an enclosed community that looks after its own - the wall of silence on this occasion stemming from wealth, arrogance and power.
Those hoping for non-stop excitements and a nail-biting finale will not find them here. Patience is Brunetti's watchword, red tape and bureaucracy the bane of his life. Only by calling in favours, discreetly sounding out friends and modestly bending the rules does he gradually put together the overall picture. Colleagues Vianello and Pucetti prove invaluable (the youthful latter developing in ways that surprise). Secretary Elettra continues to stun with her computer expertise.
As ever when young victims are involved, Brunetti thinks even more deeply about his own children, the time spent together increasingly precious.
A haunting, downbeat novel - at its core a man, humane and conscientious, disenchanted with what Venice has become.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
So much more than a mystery
Anyone who buys this book seeking a standard whodunnit will be disappointed, as one reviewer here plainly is. Read more
Published 3 months ago by G. M. Sinstadt
Complete waste of time and money
I read all these books in order and have longed to get to this one since I have never been out on the Giudecca but have stood on the Zattere and studied the Military Academy on the... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Luthien Arnatuile
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